The wave of kidnappings against priests, most of them from the diocese of Matagalpa and one from Juigalpa, has revealed the hatred of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship against Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, who is bishop of that episcopal district and has been a critic of the Sandinista government, which intensified repression and censorship after the 2018 protests, says journalist Emiliano Chamorro on his X account (formerly Twitter).
In recent days, the Sandinista Police captured another 12 priests. According to data provided by Chamorro, the diocese of Matagalpa was made up of 85 clerics, including diocesan and religious, currently, only 23 remain in the entire Diocese. From April 2018 to March 2024, the government had arrested 73 members of the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, with kidnappings increasing on August 1 and 2.
According to journalist Israel González, who has a religious background, the parishes that have been left without priests will have to be cared for by the few priests that remain and assisted by religious nuns who, although they cannot offer the Eucharist, do accompany the parishioners in prayers and spiritual guidance and, ultimately, it will be the members of the church themselves who will take charge of the parish, in order to keep the faith active.
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“I am sure that the Church, the Vatican and the Pope are well aware of what is happening in Nicaragua; however, agreements or negotiations are made at the level of diplomacy and therefore they occur quietly. Obviously, if the escalation of repression continues, I am sure that the Pope (Francis) will speak,” says Gonzalez.
For the exiled journalist, the CEN and Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes do not speak out out of fear because there is repression not only against the church, but against the entire society that does not escape the authoritarian control of the Sandinista regime. “The church assumes silence when there is a totalitarian regime. First of all, the conversion of the same is sought and if that does not work, the church withdraws into itself and seeks to protect its parishioners,” he says.
When asked if he believes that the Ortega regime is trying to pressure the Pope so that, through Brenes, he leaves more Sandinista priests in charge of headless parishes, Gonzalez says that there is a minority of religious people who sympathize with the dictatorship, so it would be difficult to be left in charge of many parishes, so the main purpose is to annoy the church because he knows that people listen to priests.
